July 2018

Hobby Master Underscores Why its the Master

Hobby Master’s 1:72 scale USN Lockheed-Martin F-35C Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter – VFA-101 “Grim Reapers”, CAG Bird, 2013

Looking to build out a number of categories, add significant line extensions and provide imagery for many of its upcoming projects, Hobby Master showed off a wide array of new items due out later this year. Of note is their first ever F-35C variant of the Joint Strike Fighter (HA6201), which is a bit larger than either the A or B models and features reinforced landing gear aimed at withstanding the rigors of catapult launches and short-landing recoveries. On the ground, several new 1:72 scale military vehicles are being added to the roster, including a pair of late model Centurion tanks and a British Achilles tank destroyer wearing a flocked winter camouflage scheme (HG3422).

Hobby Master’s 1:72 scale British Achilles IIC Tank Destroyer – 75th Anti-tank Regiment, Royal Artillery, 11th Armoured Division, Belgium, Winter 1944-45 (1:72 Scale)

Many of the new products are earmarked for an October release, as well as several additions slated for a January fly-in.

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Films in Focus: Destroyer

No stranger to war films (Braveheat, The Patriot, We Were Soldiers, Hacksaw Ridge), Mel Gibson has picked up the directing baton once again to lead his next big budget film, Destroyer. Interestingly enough, Destroyer marks the second time he will return to Okinawa, the closing battle of WWII’s campaign in the Pacific in which the US Marines, Army and Navy paid a terrible price to wrest control of the island from the Japanese. His 2016 film, Hacksaw Ridge, about pacifist medic Desmond Doss’ heroic efforts to save wounded soldiers during the allied assault on the island received wide critical acclaim and was a commercial success. This time around, he’ll be manning the anti-aircraft guns aboard the USS Laffey (DD-724). Laffey, as USNI News points out, is famous for surviving a relentless attack by two dozen kamikaze aircraft while serving on radar picket duty early in the campaign to capture Okinawa. Laffey sustained substantial damage when it was struck by six planes and four bombs, yet was able to stay afloat and continue to fight.

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Forces of Valor Provides an Early Summer Update

We recognize that information coming out of the Forces of Valor camp has been a little sparse of late, so we’d like to share some news with you concerning the Company’s progress to date. Presently, they are putting the final touches on six different versions of the 1:72 scale CH-47 Chinook helicopter and have almost completed work on the packaging phase (front shown here). All six are expected to finish production by August with the SD version of the helicopter slated to be completed by September.

According to our contact, several 1:32 scale vehicles should be leaving Asia by September and will likely arrive in North America by October, barring any trade-related issues. These include the 88mm FLaK gun, the Sherman Firefly Vc medium tank, the Jagdpanther tank destroyer, Jagdtiger tank destroyer and finally the Elefant tank destroyer. Waltersons has indicated that they have developed a new method of weathering that gives each vehicle a more realistic appearance in line with many of the enthusiast edition vehicles released between 2003-2009. The balance of 2018 will see work continue on a number of other previously announced 1:32 scale projects as well as a bevy of 1:72 scale aircraft. Its not clear which items will be shown at the Nuremberg Toy Fair in February since the Company has already gone on record as having a wide array of products in the pipeline. 

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Anatomy of War: Dassault Hints at its 6th Generation Fighter

Heralding its legacy as a pioneer in both civil and military aviation, Dassault Aviation recently unveiled a slick video meant to underscore its past achievements and demonstrate why it too can build the ultimate sixth generation fighter. The video depicts a twin-engine stealth aircraft that will purportedly carry its ordnance internally, much like a F-22 or F-35 fighter. A tailless design with a cranked delta wing configuration, the aircraft will obviously feature stealthy attributes thereby giving it a first-look, first kill advantage over would-be opponents. Other than that, few details emerged from the video, other than to suggest that work has already begun and that both France and Germany will likely be its initial markets, thereby putting it in direct competition with other sixth generation designs being developed at Grumman, Boeing and Lockheed. Check out the video here:

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Tales of Transparency: The eBay-PayPal Quandary

Earlier this year, eBay announced that it was ending its partnership with PayPal, its longtime handler of online payment processing, which has facilitated transactions both here and abroad for the better part of two decades. At one time, eBay actually owned PayPal, but decided to spin off the service a few years ago to unlock its potential — as Wall Street analysts claim — and enable it to enter payment processing agreements with other etailers, such as Amazon. We have since learned that eBay will be rolling out its own payment processor this September, initially offered by invitation only until it is ready to go prime time with all of its sellers and customers. At some point, according to eBay, PayPal will no longer be accepted as its principal form of payment although eBay has hinted that it will make it available again as an alternative means of payment processing, perhaps as early as 2019 once it feels confident that their own service will take center stage.

Adyen has reportedly been enlisted to handle eBay’s payment processing, and the new system has been reportedly called Ebay Payments. According to Ecommerce Bytes, the new payment system has entered the beta phase with a number of select merchants. We will post more information on these changes as soon as they are rolled out this September. Keep in mind we will still accept PayPal as a form of payment on our own web site, in addition to all of the major credit cards, AmazonPay and potentially ApplePay once it too has been approved as a payment processor by our web hosting solution.

On a personal note, we’ve been selling on eBay for almost two decades ourselves, initially selling a couple of lines of diecast classic cars for a friend. Back then, payment was made by cash, check, or money order, and oftentimes we were left in the lurch for weeks on end waiting to receive payment. When PayPal began, we viewed it as a godsend largely because we were getting paid almost as quickly as an item sold. It also streamlined the international payment process, since everyone was now operating on a level playing field and using PayPal as an intermediary should a problem occur. With their being shunted aside, its almost as if we’re starting over again, forced to create new bonds of trust through a brand new payment system. Ebay has hinted that they plan to incentivize the system, either offering bounties for each person/organization that signs up or perhaps lower payment processing fees to make their new system more attractive to the average seller. Still, it feels as if we are taking a step backwards by having to accept a brand new payment processor that no one is familiar with, hoping that it covers the same types of issues that can sometimes occur between a seller and buyer should the transaction go awry. Its not an enviable system for everyone concerned, but one we have no choice but to take on if we are to continue selling on eBay.

For more information on the upcoming payment intermediation, visit eBay’s Seller Center.

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